April 24, 2000 Monday

We had a plan to go from Troutdale, to The Dallas, OR today. However, we ran into a head wind from the time we left Troutdale until we gave up and took a motel in Hood River. The good news was that it was not raining. The rest of the bad news is that it was 38 degrees in Troutdale at 7:30 AM. It was a long day of riding against a very cold head wind.

We left Troutdale and headed east on Interstate 84. We stayed on the interstate until we approached Bonneville Dam. If we continued on the interstate we would have had to go through a tunnel just before the Bonneville Dam Fish Hatchery. However, a paved bike path exists, this bike path follows the old Columbia Gorge Highway which follows a route that took the highway above the existing highway tunnel. The only problem was that the bike path ended in a stairway of 63 steep cement stairs. Boy was it fun getting that Rans Screamer down those stairs. That portion of the bike path ended at the Bonneville Dam Fish Hatchery but an extension of the Bike path continued into Cascade Locks. This continuation of the bike path also followed the old Columbia Gorge Highway. It was a beautiful route. Just a few feet from the interstate highway and it felt that you were going through a tunnel of moss covered trees.

We ate lunch in Cascade Locks, and then headed back to Interstate 84. We followed the interstate and stopped at Starvation Rock State Park, which was closed because I needed to have a pit stop. Mary Kay wondered up a short path and I decided to ride the bike up the hill to her but I had to hold her bicycle gloves in one hand. When I reached the point on the hill where she was, I tried to stop but I was unable to apply the back brake because of the gloves in my hand. The next thing I knew I was going backward because the front wheel was sliding. Going backwards out of control resulted in the bike tipping over on top of me. I did it right in front of Mary Kay. Boy did I feel foolish. After we picked up the bike and checked it out for damage, we continued on our bike ride via interstate 84 to Hood River, OR where we stayed for the night.